Extreme emphasis on rumor for this one...

Sega Licenses UE For New Unnamed Multiplatform Title

Spanish site, Meristation Rumors the Secret Title is Shenmue. (Spanish language link, translation below)

Sega signing with Epic to use the Unreal Engine 3 engine in an enigmatic and promising title. Nobody officially knows what it is and rumorología erupts on the network. Will assist in the next E3 to the presentation of Shenmue III? Here, some evidence.

Is Shenmue III just around the corner?
The rumors began to ring with strength and not a few media specialist who expected a news bomb like this by Sega for the next E3 and therefore the company now needs a strong " pelotazo" (Edit: Pelotazo means " a kick" , by the by). Today everything has been reinforced by a statement from the company itself, which confirms that you are using the powerful Unreal Engine III graphics engine for a new sorpresita.

" We will have with him significant technological advances, such as dynamically changing environment, destructible environments and an advanced system of crowds, among many other things."


Multitudes, huh?


Do Multitudes, dynamically changing environment ...? Think of a game of Sega characteristically using these factors ... All of us come to mind those two large deliveries of Shenmue, and Sega are not aware that few people want a third. Will the E3 event the key to the desired ad?

From what I heard, Sega already had licensed UE starting a year or two ago and this is a continuation of that license. It could be for any purpose really... certainly Yakuza springs to mind.

Yeah, it' s just a continuation of the license that they already have. I wish it was for Shenmue but I find it doubtful... Here' s the official press release Epic sent me about it-

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



SEGA Purchases New Unreal Engine 3 License



SAN FRANCISCO – May 27, 2008 – SEGA® of America today announced that it has extended its relationship with Epic Games by signing a new Unreal Engine 3 licensing deal for an unannounced, cross-platform game. SEGA entered into its original licensing agreement to develop multiple titles with Unreal Engine 3 in May 2007. Details of the project in development will be released at a later date.



" The great capabilities of Unreal Engine 3 make it possible for our developers to deliver incredible gaming experiences,” said Dave Cobb, Vice President of Development for SEGA of America, Inc. " Unreal Engine 3 provides superior power and flexibility enabling SEGA to bring original and exciting next-generation multi-platform titles."



“SEGA has cultivated some of the world’s most treasured game franchises, and we are thrilled that they have decided to make more games with Unreal Engine 3,” said Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games. “Epic is committed to supporting SEGA with exceptional tools and technologies so it may continue to build upon its successes.”



Developers and publishers around the world have licensed Unreal Engine 3 for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Since Epic has shipped its internal titles across all supported platforms, the engine' s content pipeline and technical capabilities have achieved unprecedented levels of maturity and accessibility. These advancements, combined with the continual incorporation of top quality middleware libraries via Epic' s prestigious Integrated Partners Program, present Unreal Engine 3 as a superior offering for cross-platform game development.



Through this licensing agreement, SEGA will be able to take advantage of Unreal Engine 3’s latest technological enhancements, including dynamic ambient occlusion, destructible environments, an advanced crowd system and much more.



About SEGA® of America, Inc.
SEGA® of America, Inc. is the American arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA® Corporation, a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The SEGA of America, Inc. Web site is located at www.sega.com.

About Unreal Engine 3
The award-winning Unreal Engine is known for cutting-edge graphics and its best-of-breed toolset. Unreal Engine 3 maintains those features while adding massive world support, multi-processor support, next-generation console optimizations, and one of the most mature tool pipelines in the industry. Unreal Engine 3' s advanced toolset is designed specifically to accelerate developers' productivity for ultra-complex, next-generation content. Additional information on Unreal Engine can be obtained through the Unreal Technology Web site at www.unrealtechnology.com.



About Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc., based in Cary, NC and established in 1991, develops cutting-edge games and cross-platform game engine technology. The company has created multiple million-selling, award-winning titles in its Unreal series, recently shipping Unreal Tournament 3 for PC and PlayStation 3. Epic’s breakthrough game, Gears of War, sold over 4.7 million copies and was awarded overall Game of the Year for 2006 by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, Game Developers Choice Awards, GameSpot, GamePro and many others. Epic is also responsible for the Unreal Engine, which is the underlying technology for a wide range of games including the Game Critics Awards’ Best Console Game and Spike TV’s 2007 RPG of the Year Mass Effect by BioWare and the 2007 BAFTA Best Game and Spike TV Game of the Year BioShock by 2K Games. Epic' s Unreal Engine 3 is the current holder, and three-time consecutive winner, of Game Developer magazine' s Front Line award for Best Engine. Epic was also recognized as 2006 Studio of the Year by Spike TV, 2006 Developer of the Year by Official Xbox Magazine and 2007 Large Company of the Year by the North Carolina Technology Association. Additional information about Epic can be obtained through the Epic Games Web site at www.epicgames.com.



Epic, Epic Games, Unreal, Unreal Tournament and Gears of War are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of America and elsewhere. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

I really wish this rumour would be true. I been waiting for ages for shenmue 3! but in the spanish site it looks like the person who wrote the small spanish paragraph just took a wild guess and mention shenmue 3. There is another rumour going on of shenmue 1 and shenmue 2 being ported for the wii with new minigames. I read this at shenmuedojo.net.

There' s no way this is Shenmue 3 they would make their own engine for Shenmue 3, just like they did for the first 2.
I personally believe because in the 2003 Shin Ishikawa interview Sega never wanted to say to which platform it would go to because it was more powerfull than the machines before PS3, 360 and Wii way back then.
All they said is please look forward to more Shenmue games on Xbox but at the beggining of the article he said it would go to which ever platform it would reach to the most amount of players and he was hesitant to say which 1.
I think it' s even more powerfull than the PS3 and might only go to the next Xbox.
Adam said he could never confirm if the discussions began with Sony, Nintendo or Microsoft, maybe because it was never going to these but to the next Xbox.
It' s either going to a secret Sega machine in 2012 as an exclusive.
The next Xbox exclusively or the next Xbox and PS3 in 2012 with the PS3 version being downgraded.
Or maybe it will go to all 3 as Adam' s source said the 360 seems most likely.
I heard rumours that Shenmue 3 has been entirely finished but it' s just sitting, i think it' s waiting for a bigger user base. It' s similiar to what Adam wrote which was it' s allmost finished but it has been in hibernation for some time pending a deal on atleast one of the machines.

In case you guys are wandering, where the translator uses the word " Multitudes" , it basically translates to " Multiple or Group of people" , so he is referring that besides having dynamically changing environments, the game can also run groups of peoples akin to those seeing in real life cities.